I went into the new Love From Random shop on Park Street for the first time this afternoon and it's a remarkable place. There's retro kitsch downstairs and vintage items upstairs. And currently in the window, there's an Easter / Royal wedding display going on, with some tiny rabbits dressed as Beefeaters!
Random definitely is the best name for this shop, which has moved across to the other side of Park Street after spending eight years in the basement of BS8. I saw cards, jewellery, picture frames, bags, sweets, even a Hollywood-style clapper board. Upstairs in the vintage section, two older shoppers were having a trip down memory lane looking at the vintage furniture and tea sets.
Standing at the counter in front of Coke bottles that look like they have been manipulated by Salvador Dali, and a mug with the face of Pope John Paul on it, owner Mitch Fox-Keating told me that it's great to now be in a shop with light and a frontage, after being stuck in a basement for eight years.
"Having our own shop is brilliant," Mitch said. "It's been good so far. The vintage has been particular popular."
Park Street may soon be even more of a haven for vintage, as alongside Love From Random there will soon also be specialised vintage shops from both Oxfam and Sue Ryder.
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